What could Google I/O bring us?

Management

With the new management shakeup, two significant pieces were moved around the chessboard. Andy Rubin, the father of Android, left the product. We’ve no idea where he is going, or what project the “entrepreneur at heart” will task himself with, but it promises to be noteworthy. At their recent earnings call, Larry Page was asked what Andy would be doing next. In answering, Larry had to bite his tongue:

He really decided it was time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. And we actually have an outside – we haven’t said what that is and I’m not going to make news today on that.

ADVERTISEMENT

An outside… something… for a new project. What an interesting comment. That leaves more questions than answers, but Larry seems to think it’s newsworthy. It also hints that whatever Andy is set to do next may not be cloaked behind the X Labs doors. A shame, really… I was hoping for that elevator to space.

Then we have Sundar Pichai, who now heads up both Android and Chrome. A big job, but one he is uniquely qualified for. His turn at the wheel of both ships may also signify why there is one keynote speech. In years past, we’ve had two: day one focussed on Android, day two was Chrome. That’s not to say Sundar can’t give two speeches, but it does make for some interesting lead-in to the sessions.

Sessions

At I/O, there are always smaller breakout discussions meant for developers to get tucked in about their chosen topic. Everything from Android to Maps have sessions, but this year teases a bit more than we’re being told. There is a lot of empty space on day three, making us wonder if new announcements will mean more sessions that day.

In examining the schedule, it also seems gaming is a popular topic this year. Just about every session category has gaming involved. If we connect some dots, Google seems keen to have developers create a rich, cloud based gaming environment for us all. It’s great to see, but why so much gaming? That leads us to our next stop on this mystery tour.

Google TV

Google TV has been conspicuous in its absence. No presence on Twitter, Facebook… or even Google+ in 2013. They were diligently active on all fronts, then quietly disappeared. What seemed like such a big part of Google’s push forward has gone AWOL.

Should we be prepared for a refocused Google TV platform? There is no indication of such, but with the Asus Cube making its debut… we’d like to think the service at least has some life left in it. If Google were going to shutter TV, it’s doubtful they’d let a manufacturer push forward with a new device. Then, of course, there are all those sessions focussed on gaming.

Conclusion

Speculation abounds, but we can plainly see that I/O has a bit of a gaming undertone. An updated Android, a possible Google TV rebirth, and tons of gaming sessions that span all manner of platforms. Perhaps we’ll see Google TV as a gaming console, with your Android device acting as the controller. Remember that Chrome experiment a few weeks ago, where your phone controlled the ball travelling through the maze in your browser? A fun little feature at the time, but perhaps more poignant than we knew.

There is also news that Google has hired Noah Falstein as their “Chief Game Designer”. No lightweight to gaming, Falstein has been around the genre for…. well, ever. You don’t hire someone of that caliber unless you’re serious about making a big push. If anyone can transcend tradition and usher gaming to the next level, it’s Falstein at Google.

If we don’t get Key Lime Pie or the Motorola X phone, we can safely assume that I/O is getting back to its roots. This conference is meant for developers, and as much as we like new toys… those are both better suited for the fall Nexus launch. We’ve also heard nothing about a new Nexus 7, or even Nexus 10. Again, both best suited for the fall.

Google I/O is about Google, and development. I hope it stays that way. Babel is prime for delivery, but that could be more relief than exuberance for us. Google appears to have found a nice balance between innovation and stability, which is needed moving forward. Whatever Google has in store for I/O, we’re sure it will be subtly brilliant.

What a pessimistic view of Google io. I believe that Google could certainly improve on android, especially with the great competition it has.

Kevin Hill

I think Google might release two versions of android, which I know is a far-fetched idea, but it would really make sense right? If they were to release a completely new version of android to the population at large, they would cause a lot of fragmentation, but if they don’t significantly improve the technological level of Android they would fall behind the competition. What if they had android 4.3 to bring as many features as possible from 5.0 to devices that lack the hardware capacity to fully upgrade. I think that that would be pretty good.